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Case Study

Ocean Excavator Recovery

Colpak Logistics received an unexpected call to recover an excavator that had taken a fully submerged dip in the ocean just outside of Mackay. During a low tide beach dredging operation, the excavator became bogged in a soft spot of sand after the sand had shifted. The driver quickly abandoned the low tide inlet dredging task at hand, to try and free the vehicle from the sand bar.

Unfortunately, despite the drivers frantic efforts, the tide crept in and swallowed the excavator whole. The machines electrics did not survive the ordeal, and the beach dredging turned into an excavator recovery mission. The machines owners engaged a heavy lift crane operator to pull the excavator free from the sandy tomb to a safe spot on the coastline.

Colpak was engaged to pick up the crippled machine as it would soon become a public safety issue and bring it back to Brisbane. As the machine’s hydraulic travel motors were locked, the track system would not budge. Colpak’s skilled drivers with their extensive mechanic backgrounds were able to remove the excavators hub drives onsite, allowing them to winch it onto their vehicle without further damaging the equipment.

After transporting the excavator back to a Brisbane mechanic assessment centre, the machine was deemed to be a mechanical write-off. To recover some funds from the mishap, the machine’s owner and insurance provider asked the Colpak Transport crew to take the machine for one last trip to a salvage auction yard for sale.

By having the right vehicles in the fleet and experienced drivers on hand, Colpak was able to save the insurance provider over $3,000 in additional crane hire services. Releasing the track pads enabled us to load and unload the excavator safely at each point, without having to lift it onto or low loader trailer with a crane.

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